Abstract

Background:

Neuropsychiatric symptoms, such as depression, anxiety, apathy, agitation, and hallucinations, are frequent in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and their prevalence tends to increase with external stressors.

Objective:

We offer the first investigation of the effects of confinement during the COVID-19 crisis on neuropsychiatric symptoms in patients with AD.

Methods:

We contacted caregivers of 38 patients with AD who were confined to their homes for nearly two months and asked them to report whether patients experienced any change in neuropsychiatric symptoms during, compared to before, the confinement and rate its severity and impact on themselves using the Neuropsychiatric Inventory-Questionnaire.

Results:

Among the 38 patients, only 10 demonstrated neuropsychiatric changes during the confinement. Cognitive function of these 10 patients, assessed with the Mini-Mental State Examination, was worse than that of patients who did not demonstrate neuropsychiatric changes. Interestingly, among the 10 patients with neuropsychiatric changes, the duration of confinement significantly correlated with the severity of symptoms as well as with their caregivers’ distress.

Discussion:

The confinement seems to impact neuropsychiatric symptomatology in AD patients with low baseline cognitive function.

中文翻译：

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COVID-19 危机期间隔离对阿尔茨海默病神经精神症状的影响。

摘要

背景：

神经精神症状，如抑郁、焦虑、冷漠、激动和幻觉，在阿尔茨海默病 (AD) 中很常见，并且它们的患病率往往会随着外部压力源而增加。

客观的：

我们首次调查了 COVID-19 危机期间隔离对 AD 患者神经精神症状的影响。

方法：

我们联系了 38 名 AD 患者的看护者，他们被限制在家中近两个月，并要求他们报告患者在限制期间与之前相比是否经历了神经精神症状的任何变化，并使用神经精神评估其严重程度和对自己的影响库存问卷。

结果：

在 38 名患者中，只有 10 名在隔离期间表现出神经精神变化。通过简易精神状态检查评估的这 10 名患者的认知功能比未表现出神经精神变化的患者差。有趣的是，在 10 名出现神经精神变化的患者中，隔离时间长短与症状的严重程度以及照顾者的痛苦程度显着相关。

讨论：

这种限制似乎会影响基线认知功能低下的 AD 患者的神经精神症状。